Quick Transmigration: Survive to the End

Yinyin returned the jade pendant to Empress Dowager Li, bowed, and took her leave.

Upon returning home, she instructed her father and brothers to begin preparations.

Seeing this, Fu Yuanzhou advised her, "Why don't we wait a little longer and wait until the Ming Dynasty takes the initiative to overturn the Wu family's case, so that your maternal grandparents' family can be happy too."

“I thought so too,” Yin Yin sighed, “but then I thought, what can the dead know? Overturning the case will only put the minds of the living at ease.”

"When the time comes, we'll bring the memorial tablet inside. Even if the ceremony is grand, is it more sincere than the worship of one's own family?"

"Why not fulfill Mother's last wish first, and let the Ming Dynasty do whatever it wants? It's not very interesting to watch them."

Chu's father and Chu Yun shared the same idea, so they discreetly went to the Wu family's old residence.

Yin Yin's earlier statement in the Empress Dowager's palace that she would take the jade pendant out for worship was not a pretense.

So when the Chu family retrieved the jade pendant, Madam Li received the news and immediately informed the palace.

Therefore, after the Chu family members were ready, a green-canopied carriage arrived outside the Wu family's old residence.

“Master,” the steward came in from outside, “a lady has come in to offer sacrifices, saying this is a token.”

The steward brought out the jade pendant that Yin Yin had seen in the Empress Dowager's palace that day.

“Go and bring her in,” Yin Yin said after the steward had left. “It’s Empress Dowager Li from the palace.”

The family didn't go out to greet them; instead, they continued with what they were doing.

Since Empress Dowager Li did not reveal her identity, they continued to play dumb, since Empress Dowager Li was the uninvited guest after all.

Empress Dowager Li had come lightly dressed, accompanied only by a maidservant. The two were led in by the steward, but gradually, they walked ahead of the steward.

When Empress Dowager Li entered the room, before she could even speak to them, she saw the memorial tablet on the altar, and tears instantly welled up in her eyes.

The old woman beside her addressed her as "Miss" and offered words of comfort in a low voice.

The Chu family remained silent, but Yin Yin personally handed her a stick of incense: "You must have come out today for this matter."

Empress Dowager Li took the incense from her hand with trembling hands and knelt on the prayer mat.

Yinyin and the others silently placed the incense sticks in their hands into the incense burner, not caring whether Empress Dowager Li was sincere or not.

After Empress Dowager Li finished doing these things, she turned her head, skipped over Chu's father and Chu Yun, and only glanced at Fu Yuanzhou and Yin Yin for a moment. Before she could say anything, Yin Yin walked up to her.

"Thank you for coming today."

Empress Dowager Li said with some regret, "How can this be considered a favor? This is simply the duty of a child."

Seeing that Yinyin lowered her head and did not reply, she invited, "It has been many years since I have set foot in this place. Why don't you come and take a walk with me, Your Highness?"

Yinyin thought for a moment, nodded in agreement, and took only Qingyun with her when she went out.

Empress Dowager Li was both familiar with and unfamiliar with this house, but it was still no problem for her to take Yinyin around.

Walking to a peach tree, she saw that the peach blossoms had already faded, and suddenly reached out to stroke the trunk: "I didn't expect this tree to still be here."

She seemed to be speaking to Yin Yin, but also to herself: "When I was little, I was greedy and wanted to plant a peach tree at home. I had to persuade my parents to agree, and then I excitedly dragged my sister along to choose a tree."

"When my older brother found out, he came over to join in the fun, saying that we should choose a bigger one so that we could enjoy the flowers in spring. My sister said I was greedy and suggested that we choose one that wasn't as tall, but whose fruit was sweet and delicious."

"In the end, I took the advice of two people and chose this medium-sized one. Its fruit is delicious, and in the spring, I can cut branches and put them in vases."

"But I only ate this fruit a couple of times before something happened to my family. After that, I tried all sorts of peaches that came in, but I never tasted any as good as the ones from this tree."

“If you like, you can have someone pick the fruit when it’s ripe,” Yin Yin continued, “but I won’t be in Mingjing by then, so I guess I won’t be able to enjoy it.”

"How could that be?" Empress Dowager Li looked at her. "If it's inconvenient for you to come, it's fine to have someone send you some."

Yinyin shook her head: "For long-distance transportation, the fruit must be picked a little unripe to avoid it getting damaged on the way. I've always liked to eat fruit that ripens naturally on the tree, that's the most delicious."

As she spoke, Yin Yin smiled again: "My mother knows my preferences, so she specially ordered some to be planted for me. Now the pomegranate trees in my yard are lush and full, and there are enough for me to eat from the ones planted elsewhere."

When Empress Dowager Li saw her smiling face, she was momentarily dazed: "Yes, everyone has their favorite fruit."

The two continued to wander around, and then the nanny came up to remind them, "Your Highness, it's time to return to the palace."

Empress Dowager Li sighed and took Yin Yin's hand: "There is no Your Highness here in the mansion today, my good child, will you call me Aunt?"

Yinyin lowered her eyes, looking at the woman holding her hand, and remained silent for a long while: "Only in this house today?"

Empress Dowager Li nodded, her eyes filled with anticipation.

Yinyin opened her mouth, and finally managed to call out before she was disappointed: "Auntie."

"Oh!" Empress Dowager Li couldn't help but hug Yin Yin, reluctant to let go for a long time. However, under the repeated urging of the nanny, she left, turning back every few steps.

Yinyin turned around and went straight into the small flower hall.

In the small flower hall, the three of them were sitting and drinking tea.

Upon seeing her enter, Fu Yuanzhou shifted his position, gesturing for her to sit next to him.

Father Chu glanced at him, pretending not to see, and asked, "The person's gone? What do you think?"

"It's half true and half false," Yin Yin explained the general situation and what Empress Dowager Li had mentioned. "She's willing to put on an act, and I'll play along. It's just right."

Chu Yun laughed: "My sister sees things clearly. If it were me, I would probably have been tricked and would have willingly called her aunt and said nice things to her."

“Big brother, it’s not wrong for you to call her Aunt. Aren’t both your aunt and cousin’s aunts the same thing?” Yinyin took a sip of tea to quench her thirst. “But it’s too early to speak well of her. Look, we’re all here. Has she mentioned you and Dad?”

“She didn’t come here to claim kinship; our family is not worthy of her.”

Chu Yun didn't feel regretful: "Those who are useful are family, and those who are not useful are unwilling to speak. This is human nature. Anyway, our family has no intention of acknowledging her. Yinyin, don't be angry."

"It might be a good thing that she doesn't respect my father and me."

Chu's father said the same thing: "Our family still has business in Ming. As long as she doesn't instruct others to cause trouble, we won't get any benefits from her. We'll just treat her like a stranger."

They kept talking back and forth, and even though Yin Yin wanted to get angry, she gave up.

After all, they were right; it would be best if Empress Dowager Li didn't care about them.

That way, all the schemes will be directed at her, and she won't have to worry about her family.

Seeing that Yin Yin had come to her senses, Chu's father said again, "Yin Yin, we just discussed that we won't take the Wu family's memorial tablet with us when we go back this time."

Seeing Yin Yin frown, Chu's father stopped her from saying anything more.

"Firstly, the Wu family may not want to stay in Li Kingdom for long, and secondly, it's because of that person just now."

"Only when you have something to rely on in your heart and know how to perform ancestor worship can you feel a sense of identity, right?"